Unit lock combination latch bolt and dead bolt retractor mechanism



June 1966 F. J. RUSSELL ETAL 3,

UNIT LOCK COMBINATION LATCH BOLT AND DEAD BOLT RETRACTOR MECHANISM Filed May 5, 1964 3 Sheets-Sheet l is Q r 55 27 57604164441 FRED J. RUSSELL T R0652 .INoL/N 2 INVENTORS ATTORNEY June 1966 F. J. RUSSELL ETAL 3,

UNIT LOCK COMBINATION LATCH BOLT AND DEAD BOLT RETRACTOR MECHANISM Filed May 5, 1964 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 F250 J3 RUSSELL Z 1 6 R0652 J: NOA/N INVENTORS 'l/ww 3 8m A TORNEY Jlme 1966 F. J. RUSSELL ETAL 3,257,135

UNIT LOCK COMBINATION LATCH BOLT AND DEAD BOLT RETRACTOR MECHANISM Filed May 5, 1964 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 F250 J. RUSSELL R0652 J3 NOA/N INVENTORS ATTORNEY by authorized action.

3 257 13s UNIT LOCK CoMmNA'rioN LATCH BOLT AND DEAD BOLT RETRACTOR MECHANISM Fred J. Russell, 8635 Otis St., South Gate, Calif., and

The invention relates to door locks of a type commonly referred to as a unit lock, this being a lock which fits into a cutout extending inwardly from the free swinging edge of the door. The unit lock here under consideration is one which consists of two latching devices, namely, the customary latch bolt accompanied by a separate dead bolt acting separately to lock or bolt the door in closed position.

It has long been a well established practice to equip door locks with a dead bolt mechanism capable of locking the door, preferably from the inside, by employment of a dead bolt mechanism which can be locked and unlocked from the inside at will without disturbing regular latch bolt operation. The purpose is to add to the security and privacy of the person occupying the room against having the door inadvertently opened at inopportune times. One of the best forms for a dead bolt is that of a solid rectangular shape which, once in engagement with the recess in a strike plate, cannot be easily dislodged except A difficulty arises from the fact that the deadbolt may often be extended into what would ordinarily be a locking position while the door is in open position. This might be done unintentionally since it would serve no useful purpose except for the occupant to try the dead bolt operation.

Normally, when the dead bolt is in extended position, the shutting of the door will jam the dead bolt against the strike plate or the door frame, thus damaging the strike plate or door frame or the lock mechanism. Consequently, if the unit lock is to enjoy the security of a dead bolt which can be locked against retraction by unauthorized means when in extended position, some means must be found toprevent damage when the dead provide a new and improved combination of latch bolt anddead bolt whereby the dead bolt is automatically depressed into retracted position when there is an inadvertent closing of the door while the dead bolt is extended.

' Another object of the invention is to provide a new and improved lock incorporating both a latch bolt and a dead bolt whereby the latch bolt is made use of in enabling return of the dead bolt to retracted position as the latch bolt engages the strike plate, so that the dead bolt will be moved out of the Way as the door reaches a fully closed position.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a new and improved lock combination incorporating both a dead bolt adapted to be moved to an extended position and an accompanying latch bolt whereby, as a result of depressing the latch bolt by door closing while the dead bolt is extended, the dead bolt will be retracted, so that it cannot inadvertently jam against the strike plate should the door be closed while the dead bolt is extended,

the device further being of such construction that, oncethe door is in closed position, the dead bolt is free to be extended to an extended locking position without any other reconditioning of relationship of parts being needed.

With these and other objects in view, the'invention consists in the constructiomarrangement and combination of the various parts of the device, whereby the ob- United States Patent Patented June 21, 1966 jects contemplated are attained, as hereinafter set forth, pointedout in the appended claims and illustrated-in the accompanying drawings.

In the dawings:

FIGURE 1 is a side perspective view of a fragment of the door, showing a unit type lock mounted thereon.

FIGURE 2 is a side elevational view substantially broken away to show the working parts, taken on the line 2--2 of FIGURE 3 and with the dead bolt in retracted position.

FIGURE 3 is a plan view on the line 3-3 of FIGURE 2, with certain parts partially broken away.

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken on the line 44 of FIGURE 3 and showing the dead bolt in retracted position.

FIGURE 5 is a view similar to FIGURE 4, but showing the dead bolt in extended position.

FIGURE 6 is a plan view resembling FIGURE 3, but with the dead bolt as well as the latch bolt in extended position and both being in engagement with a customary strike plate.

FIGURE 7 is a plan view of the mechanism partially broken away to show the latch bolt in cooperation with a strike plate as the door is approaching a closed position.

FIGURE 8 is a fragmentary longitudinal sectional view taken on the line 8-8 of FIGURE 7.

FIGURE 9 is an exploded perspective view of significant pose of illustration, there is shown a door 10 having an inside face 11, an outside face 12 and a free swinging end edge 13. A cutout 14 extends inwardly from the end edge 13 to provide for the mounting of a unit lock indicated generally by the reference character 15. A rose 16 is superimposed over the inner side of the unit lock through which extends the shank of a conventional knob 17. In the particular relationship of parts herein disclosed, the unit lock 15 is set up for an outwardly swinging door 10.

The unit lock 15 here under consideration includes a frame, indicated generally by the reference character 18, consisting of a front wall 19, side walls 20 and 21, upper and lower end walls like the upper end wall 22, and a rear wall 23.

A latch bolt 25 is tiltably mounted in an opening'26 in the front wall 19 by 'means of a pivot pin 24. A tailpiece 27, attached to the latch bolt 25 in a substantially conventional pivoting fashion extends inwardly through the rear wall 23, terminating in a retracting yoke 28, by means of which the latch bolt 25 can be withdrawn in a substantially conventional fashion. A spring 29, acting between the inside face of the rear wall 23 and the latch bolt 25, provides a means for moving the latch bolt 25 out to extended position upon release of the retracting yoke 28. A pin 30 extending from one side of the latch bolt 25 serves to limit outward pivoting movement of the latch bolt 25 by engagement of the pin 30 with the inside face of-the front wall 19, this relationship being shown advantageously in FIGURE 2.

In this form of the invention, a dead bolt 31 having a rectangular cross sectional shape is shown movably mounted in an opening 32. In the chosen form of the invention, the dead bolt 31 is slidably mounted and is part of an assembly including a slide 33 from which arms 34, 34' extend laterally outwardly terminating respectively in flanges 35, 35. These, in turn, are received within a recess 36 in the dead bolt 31 and are affixed thereto respectively by pins 37, 37. A pair of slideways 38, 39 on the inside faces respectively of side walls 20, 21 slidably engage opposite edges of the slide 33.

For operating the dead bolt 31 there is provided a handle 40 aflixed to a lock shaft 41 which, in turn, is rotatably mounted in the opposite side walls 20 and 21. Nonrotatably mounted on the lock shaft 41 are actuator cams 42 and 43. The actuator cam 42 comprises an arm adapted to engage a shoulder 44 which is actually an outwardly bent portion of the slide 33 which serves thereby as a driven cam means. A second shoulder 45 also consists of an outwardly bent portion of the slide 33 but is oriented edgewise for engagement with the actuator cam 43, and this shoulder 45 also serves as a driven cam means. A return spring 46 is attached at one end to the dead bolt 31 by means of a pin 47 and is attached at the other end to the lock shaft 41.

To extend the dead bolt 31, the handle 40 and its at tached lock shaft 41 are rotated clockwise as viewed, for example, in FIGURES 1 and 2 through an approximately ninety degree turn, causing the actuator earns 42 and 43 to be moved against the respective shoulders 44 and 45, thereby pushing the slide 33 and the attached dead bolt 31 outwardly in a direction from right to left as viewed in FIGURES 2 and 4, until the dead bolt 31 is moved from the retracted position shown in FIGURES 2 and 4 to the extended position shown in FIGURE 5. In the last identified position, both actuator cams 42 and 43 extend substantially horizontally as viewed in FIG- URE 5 and underlie the respective shoulders 44 and 45. In this fashion, they lock the dead bolt 31 in extended position. If the door is closed as shown in FIGURE 6, the door 10 is then effectively deadlocked against opening by manipulation of the latch bolt and its attendant mechanism. To unlock the dead bolt 31 in a conventional fashion, the handle and its attached lock shaft 41 are rotated counterclockwise as viewed in FIG- URES 5 and 8, for example, thereby disengaging the actuator cams 42 and 43 respectively from the shoulders 44 and 45, whereupon the return spring 46 will become operative to withdraw the dead bolt 31 from its extended position as shown in FIGURE 5 to retracted position as shown in FIGURES 2 and 4.

On those occasions where the dead bolt 31 is extended while the door 10 is open, as for example in the position shown in FIGURE 7, it becomes necessary to automatically withdraw the dead bolt 31 from extended position to retracted position before the door 10 is closed and, in fact, before the dead bolt 31 engages a lip 50 of a strike plate 51. In illustrating and describing this portion of the invention, the strike plate 51 is shown as one.containing a strike box 52 providing a recess 53, the strike box 52 being mounted in a pocket 54 in a. door frame 55 immediately adjacent a stop 56. On the lip 50 is a protuberance 64 which aligns with the latch bolt 25 but which never aligns with the dead bolt 31.

An automatic retract mechanism interconnects the latch bolt 25 with the cam action, so that when the latch bolt 25 hits the protuberance 64 on the lip 50 of the strike plate 51, causing the latch bolt 25 to retract, the retract mechanism will immediately cause the dead bolt 31 to retract before the door 10 closes entirely and before the'extended dead bolt 31 can come into contact with the lip 50 of the strike plate 51.

The retract mechanism consists of a trip arm 57, including a bushing 58. The trip arm 57 is rotatably mounted upon the slide 33 by means of a' pin 59. On the free or moving end of the trip arm 57 is a cam deflector 60 having an oblique deflecting face 61. The defleeting face 61 overlies an arcuate track 62 at the end of the actuator cam 43, as shown advantageously in FIG- URES 5 and 8. A bridge 63 connecting the cam deflector 60 with the trip arm 57 bridges over the shoulder 45 so that the trip arm 57 is free to move without being obstructed by the shoulder 45. The trip arm 57 is so located, as shown in FIGURES 6, 7, and 8, that the pin 30 is capable of being moved into engagement with it. Consequently, when the pin 30 is moved from its position against the inside face of the front wall 19 by tilting of the latch bolt 25, the pin 30 presses against the trip arm 57, causing the trip arm 57 to rotate in a clockwise direction as viewed in FIGURES 6 and 7. Movement of trip arm 57 in a clockwise direction, as made reference to, moves the deflecting face 61 of the cam deflector 60 against the arcuate track 62 of the actuator cam 43, and this in turn causes the actuator cam 43 to rotate in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in FIGURES 5 and 8. Rotation of the actuator cam 43 in a counterclockwise direction causes the lock shaft 41 to rotate also in a corresponding counterclockwise direction, which means further that the actuator cam 42 will be similarly rotated out of engagement within the shoulder 44, as the actuator cam 43 is rotated by the same agency out of engagement with the shoulder 45. As a result of this disengagement of the actuator cams 42, 43, the return spring 46 immediately withdraws the dead bolt 31 fast enough so that the dead bolt 31 is pulled back into the door frame 55 before it can strike the lip 50 of the strike plate 51. To make certain of prompt and early action of the kind described, the strike plate 51 may be provided with a protuberance 65 which strikes the latch bolt 25 slightly in advance of the approach that the extended dead bolt 31 would ordinarily make to the strike plate 51. This will give enough lead action to make certain that, even though the door 10 may be slammed hard, the retractor mechanism will be started in operation soon enough to cause withdrawal of the dead bolt 31 before it can engage the strike plate 51.

Although a protuberance 65 is suggested, it will be appreciated that, if preferred, a portion of the latch bolt 25 may be suitably deformed in the area of engagement with the lip 50 so as to engage the latch bolt 25 early enough to cause its early retraction for the reasons given, before the door 10 approaches too closely to a closed position. Once the door 10 has been closed and the latch bolt 25 extended by customary spring action into the recess 53 of the strike plate 51, the dead bolt 31 can then be shifted to its extended lock position by rotation of the handle 40 in the manner already described.

Accordingly, by provision of a direct acting retract mechanism, automatic in its operation and prompt acting because of the relationship of parts, it will be appreciated that this expedient for preventing damage to the extending dead bolt, lip, or door frame thus is effectively incorporated into a unit lock.

While the invention has herein been shown and described in What is conceived to be the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is recognized that departures may be made therefrom within the scope of the invention,

which is not to be limited to the details disclosed herein but is to be accorded the full scope of the claims so as to embrace any and all equivalent devices.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new in support of Letters Patent is:

1. In a unit lock, a frame, a latch bolt movably mounted on said frame for movement between extended and retracted positions, a dead bolt movably mounted on said frame for movement between extended and retracted positions, cam means on said dead bolt, actuator cam means mounted on said frame in operable engagement with said firs-t identified cam means adapted to move said dead bolt from retracted position to extended position,

and an automatic retract mechanism for disengaging said cam means upon movement of said latch bolt to retracted position comprising a trip member movably mounted in said frame in response to operation of said latch bolt and in operating engagement with at least one of said cam means, and a shoulder on said trip member engageable with said latch bolt upon movement of said latch bolt toward retracted position, whereby to enable return of said dead bolt to retracted position.

2. In a unit lock, a frame, a latch bolt movably mounted on said frame for movement between extended and retracted positions, a dead bolt movably mounted on said frame for movement between extended and retracted positions, cam means on said dead bolt, actuator cam means rotatably mounted on said frame in operable engagement with said first identified cam means adapted to move said dead bolt from retracted position to extended position, and an automatic retract mechanism for disengaging said cam means upon movement of said latch bolt to retracted position comprising a trip member movably mounted in said frame in response to operation of said latch bolt, a trip face on said trip member in engagement with one of said cams, a return means in said frame acting upon said dead bolt, and a shoulder on said trip member engageable with said latch bolt upon movement of said latch bolt toward retracted position, whereby to enable return of said dead bolt to retracted position.

3'. In a unit lock mounting on a door and adapted upon closing of the door to engage a strike plate, a latch bolt movably mounted on said frame for movement between extended and retracted positions, a dead bolt movably mounted on said frame for movement between extended and retracted positions, said latch bolt having a position of engagement with said strike plate in advance of engagement of said dead bolt with said strike plate upon closing of the door, cam means on said dead bolt and actuator cam means rotatably mounted on said frame in operable engagement with said first identified cam means adapted to move said dead bolt from retracted position to extended position, and an automatic retract mechanism for disengaging said cam means upon movement of said latch bolt to retracted position comprising a trip member movablymounted in said frame in response to operation of said latch bolt and in operating engagement with at least one of said cam means, and a shoulder on said trip member engagable with said latch bolt upon movement of said latch bolt toward retracted position, whereby to release said cam means from engagement with each other and enable return of said dead bolt to retracted position.

4. In a unit type look, a frame,'a latch bolt movably mounted on said frame and movable between extended and retracted positions, a dead bolt movably mounted on said frame and movable between extended and retracted positions, a slide member having a slidable mounting in said frame for movement substantially parallel to movement of said dead bolt, driven cam means on said slide and actuator cam means rotatably mountedon said frame movable into operating engagement with said-driven cam means whereby to move said dead bolt from a retracted position to an extended position, return means in said frame acting upon said dead bolt adapted to return said dead bolt to retracted position upon disengagement of said cam means from each other, and an automatic retract mechanism oper-ably responsive to retracting movement of said latch bolt adapted to enable disengagement of said actuator cam means from said driven cam means, whereby said dead bolt is moved to retracted position by said spring means when said latch bolt is moved toward retracted position.

5. In a unit type lock, a frame, a latch bolt movably mounted on said frame and movable between extended and retracted positions, a dead bolt movably mounted on said frame and movable between extended and retracted positions, a slide member having a slidable mounting in said frame for movement substantially parallel to movement of said dead bolt, driven cam means on said slide and actuator cam means rotatably mounted on said frame movable into operating engagement with said driven cam means whereby to move said dead bolt from a retracted position to an extended position, and an automatic retract mechanism operably responsive to retracting movement of said latch bolt adapted to enable disengagement of said actuator cam means from said driven cam means, said automatic retract mechanism comprising an arm pivotally mounted in said frame, a deflecting face on said arm in deflecting engagement with said actuator cam means, a shoulder on'said arm and a complementary shoulder on said latch bolt, said last shoulder being productive of movement of said arm and the face therein to a position effecting disengagement of said actuator cam means from said driven cam means, whereby said dead bolt is free for movement to retracted position when said latch bolt is moved toward retracted position.

6. In a unit type lock, a frame, a latch bolt movably mounted on said frame and movable between extended and retracted positions, a dead bolt movably mounted on said frame and movable between extended and retracted positions, a slide member having a slidable mounting in said frame for movement substantially parallel to movement of said dead bolt, driven cam means on said slide and actuator cam means rotatably mounted on said frame movable into operating engagement with said driven cam means whereby to move said dead bolt from a retracted position to an extended position, return means in said frame acting upon said dead bolt adapted to return said dead bolt to retracted position upon disengagement of said cam means from each other, and an automatic retract mechanism operably responsive to retracting movement of said latch bolt adapted to enable disengagement of said actuator cam means from said driven cam means, said automatic retract mechanism comprising an arm pivotally mounted on said slide member, a deflecting face on said arm in deflecting engagement with said actuator cam means, a shoulder on said arm and a complementary shoulder on said latch bolt, said last shoulder being productive of movement of said arm and the track therein to a position effecting disengagement of said actuator cam means from said driven cam means, whereby said dead bolt is moved to retracted position by said return means when said latch bolt is moved to retracted position.

No references cited.

PATRICK A. CLIFFORD, Primary Examiner.

I. MOSES, Assistant Examiner. 

